Intel's Core "Haswell" processor family may be just around the corner (June 2013), but that isn't stopping enthusiasts from looking out for the next HEDT (high-end desktop) processor from Intel, codenamed "Ivy Bridge-E." The new lineup could look similar to the company's current Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E," in that it features a quad-core part in the $300-400 range, a six-core unlocked part in the $500-600 range, and an Extreme Edition six-core part around $1000. All three parts will be available in the LGA2011 package, and compatible with current X79 chipset-based motherboards (BIOS update could be needed). DDR3-1866 MHz could become the standard memory frequency for these chips.

The lineup will begin with Core i7-4820, a quad-core chip with a nominal clock speed of 3.70 GHz, Turbo Boost speed of 3.90 GHz, and 10 MB shared L3 cache. Moving on, there's the Core i7-4930K, a six-core chip with an unlocked BClk multiplier, nominal speed of 3.40 GHz, Turbo Boost speed of 3.90 GHz, and 12 MB shared L3 cache. The series will be topped off with the Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition, featuring an unlocked BClk multiplier, 3.60 GHz nominal clock speed, 4.00 GHz Turbo Boost speed, and 15 MB shared L3 cache. The Ivy Bridge-E silicon will be built on the 22 nm silicon fab process, and TDP for all three parts is rated at 130W. The three will be released some time in Q3, 2013.